Activation
A rune drawn true is only sleeping. Touch its heart — a firm tap on the proper block — and it wakes. Some runes burn away in the waking; others endure to serve again and again.
from A Primer on the Runic Arts
Waking a rune takes one right-click. This page covers what that click needs: the right block, the right hand, and a world where the magic is allowed.
Which block to click
Every rune has one activation block, called its heart. Rune diagrams mark it with a golden glow, and each rune page names it under Activation in the info box.
When you right-click a block, Runic checks three places for a heart: the block you clicked, the block above it, and the block below it. That means you can click either the heart itself or the block just beneath it. The second option matters whenever the heart is something you cannot click, like fire, or is meant to stay empty. On a ceiling it works the other way round, and you click the block above the heart.
Some runes are pickier. A rune built around a special block, such as the beacon of a Stargate or the anvil of a Runic Anvil, wakes only when you click that block itself. The info box says so: Right-click the Beacon itself.
Only the main hand counts, and only right-clicks on a block. Clicking air does nothing.
What your hand may hold
The click goes to the first thing that wants it:
- Tools that work by touch. An item bound with Oracle, a designator, or any other bound item that acts when it touches a block gets the click first. Examples include Surveyor, Scribe, Lockpick, Embedder, and a hexed or cursed diamond. Put it away to wake a rune.
- Blocks you can place. If the item in your hand could be placed against the face you clicked, it is placed as normal. Blocks, redstone dust, string, and buckets of water or lava all count. When your main hand holds no placeable item, the off hand is checked as well.
- The rune. Anything else, including an empty hand, wakes the rune.
Some runes ask you to hold a block as part of the spell, such as fuel for a Pegasus, string for a Spring, or a player's head for Absolution. Those runes wake even though the held item could be placed. Their rune pages say what to hold.
When two runes could match
A small rune can sit inside a bigger one. The Personal Teleport, for instance, is drawn within the heart of the Red Light Tool. Runic always tries larger patterns first, so the bigger rune claims the click.
Why a matching rune refuses
A rune that matches still checks a list of conditions before it wakes. It stops at the first one that fails and tells you why:
| Check | What you see |
|---|---|
| The rune is switched off on this server. | The pattern is drawn true, but … is forbidden on this server. |
| The server runs an older Minecraft than the rune needs. | … needs Minecraft … or newer. |
| You lack the rune's permission. | … stirs, then turns from you — you lack permission to wield it. |
| Absolution has barred you. | Absolution bars you from all Runic magic. |
| You have not been initiated. | The pattern stirs beneath your hand, but the magic does not know you. |
| A Faith island here is mid-transfer. | The rune stays cold — a faith transfer is underway. |
| Region protection forbids it, such as a WorldGuard flag or a land claim. | The protection plugin's own refusal. |
| A ward covers the spot. | The rune stays cold — a … Ward smothers such magic here. |
| A Domain or Keystone covers the spot, and you are a visitor there. | A Domain wards this place — new runes will not take root. Magic raised there earlier keeps working. |
| The rune's own needs are unmet, such as a missing item or a full store. | The rune's own message. |
Worlds listed under disabled-worlds in config.yml sit outside all of this: Runic ignores clicks there entirely.
Other ways to wake a rune
A right-click is the usual way, and a few others exist:
- Automation. A designator marks a rune's heart, and a sensor wakes it when something happens. See Automation.
- Redstone. Locks, latches, and Viatorem's Arch answer redstone signals directly.
- Bound items. Item magic usually triggers as you use the item: mining, attacking, shooting, or walking.